July 13, 2004

The semiconductor-tools industry is poised for dramatic growth in 2004, according to a new report from research firm Gartner. Demand is being driven by a seemingly insatiable consumer appetite for electronics devices, such as cell phones.

Worldwide semiconductor capital spending is on pace to reach US$44.8 billion this year, growing 50.9 percent from 2003, according to Gartner. Capital equipment spending is forecast to grow 63.5 percent in 2004.… read more

July 12, 2004

“Energy is the single most important challenge facing humanity today,” says Richard Smalley, director of the Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory at Rice University.

“We will need revolutionary breakthroughs to find the clean, low-cost energy necessary for advanced civilization of the 10 billion souls we expect to be living on this planet before this century is out.”

Nanotechnology will play a key role, he says. For example, single-wall carbon nanotubes… read more

July 9, 2004

On “Living Forever,” Kurzweil discussed how to dramatically slow down the aging process, even stop and reverse it, and the social and cultural ramifications. He also described his forthcoming book, “Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever,” co-authored with Terry Grossman, M.D.

July 9, 2004

France Telecom has done some fun R&D to display pixelated images from your cellphone on your shirt or sleeve.

These raver garments can even be used as a standalone device that can animate based on sounds and gestures. The technology uses a flexible circuit board with LEDs and other electronic bits like sensors layered in a fabric layered sandwich.

July 9, 2004

A more efficient nano-diode (linking together two carbon nanotubes) has been created by GE, marking another step towards practical atomic electronics.

The new process uses electric fields rather than doping to modify the diode properties. This allows for more adaptable types of nano-circuitry, since the electric fields can be varied to alter the properties of the diode, while doping is a fixed process.

July 9, 2004

Brain implants have been used to “read the minds” of monkeys to predict what they are about to do and even how enthusiastic they are about doing it, California Institute of Technology researchers have found.

By decoding the signals from 96 electrodes in a region of the brain just above the ear, called the parietal cortex, the researchers were able to predict 67 per cent of the time where… read more

July 8, 2004

In North America, digital cameras may nearly replace film cameras by 2008, according to InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. The trend is being fueled partly by improvements in the digital sensors that capture images in lieu of film.

The latest: the X3 from Santa Clara, CA-based Foveon. It has three layers of silicon, as opposed to one in conventional sensors, which produce sharper, truer-colored photos.